Cognitive Capitalism, Organization, and the Labour Theory of Value

Radical scholarship tends to scoff at managerial discourse as mere “ideology” and leave management writings to managers. We aim to turn on its head that approach and posit a correspondence between Marxism and organization and management theorizing (OMT). Management needs a theory of value, fit for contemporary, cognitive capitalism. We put forward the Marxian labor theory of value (LTV) as the territory for such synthetical exchange to commence. Whereas, previous Marxist influences on OMT were through an intermediary discourse, we endeavor a direct exchange. For that task, we make the most of the Autonomist Marxist tradition, inasmuch as it offers us a coherent explanation of the social foundations of post-Fordism. We scrutinize features of the LTV in cognitive capitalism and put forward propositions that can enrich O&M theory. At the crossroads of Marxism and Management, we reach the assertion of a negation of value creation in cognitive capitalism: consumption precedes production and creates – rather than destroys – value